The Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare, Mr. J.P. Nadda at the commemorative event to mark a decade of Integrated Food Law: The Food Safety and Standard Act, 2006, in New Delhi on August 22, 2016.The Secretary (Health), Mr. C.K. Mishra and other dignitaries are also seen.

New Delhi (PIB-GR-TYP-BIN): Commemorating a decade of integrated food law in the country, and marking ten years of Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi in his congratulatory message underscored the ‘need for the Authority to focus on empowering the consumers so that the manufacturers and suppliers of food products become responsive to consumer needs, demands and expectations.’ He further added that ‘safe, wholesome and hygienic food will create a ‘Swasth Bharat’. And this has to be cornerstone of the efforts of FSSAI.’

Speaking at the function organized by FSSAI to commemorate 10 years of the enactment of Food Safety and Standard Act (FSSAI Act), on Aug 22, Mr. J P Nadda, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, stated that “Food safety is a very important health and economic issue. It has high employment potential, can boost exports of agro-products out of the country, and also provide better returns to farmers for their produce. Provisions of safe food should become a part of ingrained culture in our country.”

He further added that the FSSAI Act is a paradigm shift from regulatory regime under the provisions of Food Adulteration Act to self-regulatory and facilitatory regime. “Now, basic ground work is done. We are ready for big leap forward,” Mr. Nadda said. Mr. C K Mishra, Health Secretary, Government of India was the Special Guest on this occasion.

In his opening address, Mr. Ashish Bahuguna, Chairperson, FSSAI said, “One of the most significant provisions of the formation of FSSAI was for setting national benchmarks, regulations and guiding principles for Food Safety and Nutrition. We have completed 10 formative years of this act and are now striving to work towards a collective approach for building safe food culture in India because Food Safety cannot be ensured by enforcement alone.”

Commemorating this milestone, FSSAI also announced [email protected] – 10th anniversary with 10 initiatives. The primary focus of the [email protected] initiative is to engage with stakeholders and consumers to create food safety culture in the country.

Referring to the [email protected] initiatives, CEO, FSSAI, Mr. Pawan Agarwal said that all these initiatives have been developed collaboratively over the past few months along with other stakeholders and partners.

Also present at the function were members of the food sector fraternity including the science community, industry – big corporates as well as small and medium food businesses represented by their associations, consumer and citizen organizations, international organizations and foreign missions, experts and government officials from Central ministries and States and other key stakeholders.